Neptune Systems Aqua or Reef Keeper ELITE?

Buy A used ACIII or a new apex

 

I bought mine from ninjax777 , its the best purchase I ever made for my tank. Its a used ACIII. I love this thing .

 

I have a reefkeeer lite, and I love it I know the Elite does alot more but I can tell you I love my reefkeeper. The new software on the reefkeepers makes it simple to setup

 

What are you looking to do with it? Are you going to want a lot of stuff hooked up to it or just basic things like heaters and lights? If you are thinking more basic I would check out the new Apex Jr they are coming out with or if you want to go big pick up an AC3 or Apex(still hear a lot of mixed reviews on them).

 

Apex all the way...

--AJ

 

Support for AI LEDs in the Apex is still problematic, although there's a new firmware upgrade in beta that's supposed to fix the issues. You do need the VDM module for the AIs. I do auto-feeding every day. My return pump goes off at 4 (which triggers the skimmer to also turn off) and my Vortechs go down to a constant 5% power. At 4:05, New Life Spectrum pellets are fed. At 4:10, spirulina flakes are fed. At 4:15, my return pump turns back on and my Vortechs go back to standard Reef Crest day mode and at 4:18, my skimmer turns back on (3 minute delay to allow the water level in my sump to go back to standard levels.). That's a daily scheduled thing. Now if you want, you can create a virtual outlet for your "feeding" and control it with a switch, or, you can use the built in feed timers. There are a lot of options that you have with the Apex.

If you're going with the Apex + VDM, get the Apex Lite. The only difference between the full Apex and the Lite is the Lite does not have the 4 variable speed ports, but you get another 4 on the VDM module so it's really kind of a moot point having them on the base unit.

--AJ

 

I love my AC III, but my impending move to LED lighting is going to force me to go to some variant of the Apex. Whether you get an AC/ACjr, Apex/Apex Jr, Reef Keeper or whatever, you'll find that a controller (once setup properly) is the best thing you'll ever add to your tank.

Be warned though, don't let a controller give you a false sense of security. They're great tools, but no matter the brand they are still fail occasionally. Be sure that your system is setup in such a way that it can survive a controller failure.

-JB

 

+1

 

FYI, I'm considering selling my ACIII setup. I'll be posting in the B/S/T forum shortly.

 

If you haven't gotten your AI lights yet, hold off selling your controller. I find the controller that comes with the AI lights can do all that I want it to do. I have a controller, but since I got rid of my MH's there's little for it to do. Just my opinion.

 

I'm with Jim on this one. I have an Apex but I run my LEDs off the controller. I guess I really don't know what I am missing if I do use a controller but I don't feel I need anything beyond the controller and software supplied by AI.

 

JB is making an LED setup, not buying AI. It's either use his controller or figure out another way to deliver variable amounts of power to his DIY setup.

As for controlling AI lights with Apex, its buggy on the current firmware. A new firmware is in beta that's supposed to fix the issues...so by using the AI controller yore probably saving yourself a headache at this point.

--AJ[code] [/code]

 

Well then, that changes everything. I thought I had read AI somewhere in this thread. Sorry.